US senators on Wednesday voted down a pair of resolutions aimed at blocking US bomb and bulldozer sales to Israel as it continues its genocidal war on Gaza and devastating bombardment and mass displacement in Lebanon.
Upper chamber lawmakers voted 59-40 against advancing SJ Res. 32, a joint resolution introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) “providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the government of Israel of certain defense articles and services.”
At issue are $295 million worth of Caterpillar D9 series bulldozers, spare parts, and related services. Israel often uses the bulldozers to destroy homes and other civilian structures in Gaza, the illegally occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Lebanon.
Absolutely historic vote today where 40 US Senators voted to block the sale of Caterpillar D-9 bulldozers to Israel, citing civilian harm Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.Though the measure was defeated (as expected), the tide is turning. Just last year, this number was 27.
[image or embed]
— Mai El-Sadany (@maitelsadany.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 4:21 PM
In 2003, American human rights activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by a Caterpillar D9 while attempting to stop the demolition of a home in Rafah, Gaza.
Entire villages and hamlets have been razed using the dozers as Israel ethnically cleanses the occupied territories to make way for Jewish-only settler colonies.
The SJ Res. 32 roll call was followed by a 63-36 vote against advancing SJ Res. 138, which was introduced by Sanders and Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). The measure rejects the proposed sale of 12,000 BLU–110A/B general purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies and associated items and services.
Experts point to Israel’s use of 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs in densely populated Gaza—and the Israeli military’s loosened rules of engagement effectively allowing unlimited civilian casualties in strikes targeting a single Hamas militant of any rank—as a major reason why so many Gazans are being killed and injured.
Sanders said on social media after the votes, “Today, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block US military aid to Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars.”
“We are making progress,” the senator continued. “When we started this effort there were just 11 votes, now there are 40.”
Today, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block U.S. military aid to Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars.
[image or embed]
— Senator Bernie Sanders (@sanders.senate.gov) April 15, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said following Wednesday’s votes:
A vote to approve arms sales to Israel at this time would be seen as a message of approval for [President Donald] Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s disastrous war against Iran. I will not send that message.
Why would we send American military weapons that could prolong, escalate, or worsen this horrible situation in the Middle East? I say no more. The Senate should express its opposition to Trump and Netanyahu’s needless war in Iran and seek to stop it in any way it can.
There is no military solution to this crisis. We must solve this at the negotiating table. We must stop these arms sales and end this war now.
Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy (CIP) and a former adviser to Sanders, slammed Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) who voted to block the resolutions for their “cowardly bullshit.”
Duss noted that just last September, Coons said that “if there is no change in direction from the Israeli administration, for the first time I would seriously consider” voting to block arms transfers to Israel.
“Israeli behavior has only gotten worse since then,” Duss said.
Wednesday’s votes followed numerous previous failed attempts to limit US arms transfers to Israel since it launched its genocidal retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, which has left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing.
Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at CIP, said on X that “the fact that 40 of 47 Democratic senators voted to withhold military hardware from Israel is a new high water mark in holding Israel accountable for violating US and international law.”
“It is still troubling that a few Democrats and all Republicans voted to supply the arms,” he added.
The Biden and Trump administrations have lavished Israel with more than $21 billion in armed aid since October 2023, despite the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
